Partner Rosemary Hathaway
Queer Places:
1311 6th St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93402
Pat Durham (July 15, 1926 - June 3, 2005) was a life-long women's advocate and social activist. She was a docent of the MontaNo de Oro park, her special place to walk and hike.
Pat was born on July 15, 1926. She graduated from UCLA in 1948 and married Lewis E. Durham in 1950. In 1962 they moved to San Francisco where Lewis Durham became the head of Glide Foundation. Pat participated in Glide Church activities, including the 1964 New Year's Eve Ball at California Hall, one of the first openly gay events in San Francisco. In 1974 she was a founding member of the San Jose Street Commune. Pat co-founded and served as executive director of Options for Women Over 40, from 1981 to 1986, and helped move it to the Women's Building. She was director of women's activities for Gay and Lesbian Outreach to Elders (GLOE), and retired from GLOE in 1992. Pat helped develop the second "Old Lesbians Organizing for Change" Conference (OLOC) in 1989 and co-founded the Pat Bond Old Dyke Awards.
Standing left to right: Vera Martin (1923-2012), Betty Shoemaker (1918-2002), Gertrude Chasens (1917-2016), Ann Ramsey (1926-199?), Shaba Barnes (b. 1935; supporter, not founder),
Shevy Healey (1922-2001)
Crouching left to right: Elaine Mikels (1921-2004), Rosemary Hathaway (1929-2015)
Sitting down: Barbara Kalish (1929-2018)
The first event of OLOC, held April 24-26, 1987, on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA, was entitled the West Coast Celebration: The First West Coast Conference by and for Old Lesbians. The conference involved the efforts of many outspoken movers and shakers in the community. It was attended by approximately 160 Old Lesbians (women age 60 and over) and 40 younger women. While a wide variety of topics were discussed in the presentations and workshops covered, ageism was clearly the over-riding theme of the conference. The opening presentation, consciousness raising session, and closing presentation each focused on aspects of ageism. Those responsible for the 1987 conference described themselves and their event: “The Planning Committee for the First West Coast Celebration is a grassroots group of Lesbians who began meeting one year ago. The purpose was to organize a Conference that would address the Issues of Aging and Ageism as it affects Old Lesbians, in the hope that this event would be a catalyst for change.” The West Coast Celebration II and Conference of Old Lesbians took place August 4-6, 1989, at the Seven Hills Conference Center on the campus of San Francisco State University in San Francisco, CA.
Pat Durham passed away on June 3, 2005 at a local hospital. Pat was survived by her life partner, Rosemary Hathaway (December, 1929 - 2015).
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